Tuesday, September 23, 2014

Downed For A Pound (Again)

Or perhaps quite a few more pounds now, as the breaking news is that Annie Get Your Gloags has offloaded her 700 acres of prime development land at Manston, which she bought for a quid last year, to the people behind Discovery Park, the former Pfizer site. BBC News reports:

Trevor Cartner and Chris Musgrave, who are part of the consortium behind Discovery Park, Sandwich, have bought a majority stake for an undisclosed fee.

The partnership plans a 20-year, £1bn redevelopment of Manston, which it said would create more than 4,000 jobs.

I guess this won't stop Sir Roger Wind and his cohorts guffing on about a CPO to reinstate the airport, but to be honest I'm not sure it would come back to life now if you put 4m volts through it.

Personally I was always in favour of an airport on my doorstep from which I could be whisked off to Cannes at a moment's notice, but the sad truth is that it wouldn't have survived even with night flights, training flights, and knackered old cargo jumbos flying over 24/7, all of which were unacceptable to the majority of residents here in the old Millionaires' Playground. Anyway, I'm sure you'll have your own views, so do make them known by popping a comment in the suggestions box below. Pip pip!

57 comments:

Anonymous said...

Actually they say : The partnership plans a 20-year £1bn redevelopment of Manston, which it said would create more than 4,000 jobs.

Great news for Ramsgate.

Richard Eastcliff said...

Er, I wondered who'd be the first to spot that! A bit of a rush job combined with a hangover, I'm afraid. I've corrected the figure now, thanks for alerting me.

Anonymous said...

Interesting to know the contamination details.

The 4000 jobs is guff and warehouses and houses are not needed..but at least we're rid of Gloag and SMA and the aviation politicians.

Anonymous said...

So we have a cargo airport but without the airport and there was never much cargo....

4000 jobs would another Pfizer so traffic problems but big tarmac projects. ..

Anonymous said...

Of course Gale will beat his chest over this and say it is a terrible blow for East Kent.

But…

His political crony at KCC, Paul Carter has already spoken very positively about these developments. Hardly suggests unity within the Tory camp, does it?

Gale has, in addition, always said Manston is of "national significance" in aviation terms. If this is the case, why has no-one in Government - a Government (mostly) of Gale's own politcal colour said it should remain an airport?

Methinks Gale is just a wind-bag, ignored by his political "colleagues", who continues to achieve and deliver absolutely nothing for those he purports to represent.

Anonymous said...

Gale is a windbag and Carter a supporter of anything with cement. Both must go after the Manston failure and complete collapse of East Kent.

Discovery Park is not a success with fewer Pfizer jobs and most of the new businesses simply existing Thanet ones relocating. Wasn't a lot of it due to be demolished for a supermarket and yet another housing estate?

Anonymous said...

ECR you will just have to go to Cannes by train rather than flying to Nice. New Eurostar service from Ashford to Marseille starting next year and then double decker TGV hugging the coast to Cannes. Who needs airports?

Anonymous said...

What a wonderful day for Thanet. It's a shame biggles and gale can't see beyond covering their own backsides and agree manston as an airport is over.

Mind you, if you'd backed the wrong pony for the whole of your career you'd look like a humongous fucking idiot today, wouldn't you?

Unknown said...

£1bn investment outside of London, 4000 jobs, and lord windy is still talking about a CPO, lets see TDC carry on with this CPO without KCC's support. Carter is in favour of this new deal and so he should be its great news for Thanet.
No public interest argument now for a CPO Manston airport is dead :)

Anonymous said...

Same old KCC Construction rubbish. How is it different from Chinagate which was rejected as overbuild.

Good the airport is finshed but this is not a greatday for Thanet except clutching at straws again.

Anonymous said...

The discovery park in Sandwich still has space that nobody wants. So if you really believe that 4,000 jobs will be created then you're even more gullible than the SMA lot!

Anonymous said...

Gloag still a shareholder in the new Manston company. Shapps and Sandys etc looking foolish over airport and CPO claims. Carter rubbing his hands in glee for construction.

So much for Manston as the key to Thanet regeneration. Utter disaster along with Pfizer and Dreamland and Pleasurama. We need a clearout of the same failures.

Who should resign?

Anonymous said...

Gale must go.

Iris.

Carter.

Macgonigal wont be back.

Latchford.

Who were the airport chairmen at TDc.

Anyone else?

Anonymous said...

Effectively they are all resigned in May...just don't vote for them!

Tony Flaig said...

A big PR puff with Gloag spreeding the bet and getting new partners perhaps to offset the risk that River Oak know what their doing

What has changed? Jack

4000? jobs More like 4000 tacky hutches for work shy London down and outs to reside in Manston Airport Garden City nestling among picturesque fields of solar panels

Wake up and smell the coffee

Anonymous said...

Sounds like it's going to be exactly like Kings Hill, which is no bad thing.

Tony F and Simon M seem to be convinced this developer is going to spend millions to create some slum city.

It might have some credibility if they could name a sink estate that's been built in the last 30 years.

The bad news is that the 2nd and 3rd generation benefits class that is spread thickly all over Thanet will remain where it is blighting our communities while Manston: Kings Hill 2 gets filled with executives and their own railway station.

Anonymous said...

Makes Grant Shapps look like a bit of a cock, doesn't it?

Anonymous said...


Tony Flaig

You really are an offensive and odious little man aren't you? Bitterness oozes from every word you utter.

Anonymous said...

Gale must go after failing to regulate the airport and now failing with the CPO foolishness to keep it open.

Anonymous said...

So who do you suggest we vote for to replace him 8:51? None of the other Thanet North candidates look too impressive to me.

Anonymous said...

The bad thing about a Kings Hill 2 is there's half empty Discovery Park minutes away and we havetons of empty houses and offices already. Building more will create a glut and reduce prices. And they'll still be empty. Do keep up.

Anonymous said...

9:53 you're suggesting sticking wiht Gale again depsite the failure.

The Thanet North candidates look a bit useless but so is Gale. Maybe the Green Candidate Ed Targett or Young Scobie or a spoilt ballot would be better.

Can Libden Cunnignham stand as an EU civil servant?

The elderly UKIPPers may oust Gale anyway - we could even have Latchford as MP!

Anonymous said...

I feel truly sorry for all the people who have been led up the garden path by Gale. He has whipped them all into a frenzy with false promises and has delivered nothing. I do hope they return their verdict on him next May.

Anonymous said...

I think it's wonderful to see the free market in action. We don't want government intervention in the shape of a CPO: let the markets decide and they have: no airport, it's a loss maker, more housing for speculators, that's they way forward.

Anonymous said...

Agree 12:35 and bayford and Iris have done the same

Unknown said...

I would be fascinating to know the economics of a solar farm. Presumably it would please everyone if the site was left as an enormous solar plant - no housing and no aircraft!

Anonymous said...


Remember as a kid when watching TV and a Robot character was suffering a terminal malfunction, all quirky movements, tape flowing out of its chest, voice becoming increasingly detatched from brain, lights all flashing at random and so on?

Does it make you think of a certain local politician?

Only asking.

Anonymous said...

News flash!
Green Party's Ian Driver, calls for himself to resign Over Alleged Politically Motivated band wagon jumping.

Anonymous said...


Great business currently being done over on the PP Auctions site, what with the last remnants of the Aviation disgrace that was once the failed airport attracting bidders and nostalgia-botherers from across North Kent.

Apparently the walk-through metal detectors can be adjusted to become lie-detectors. Funny, the bidding seems stuck at £10. Maybe the Manstophiles don't want to be within 100 yards of them. Perhaps Duty-Free Brut is more their type of purchase!

Anonymous said...

6.42

Manstophiles commit themselves to an asylum for bandwagon-aims-confusion.

Panic: 'Are we pro-airport?'
Panic: 'Are we pro-jobs?'
Panic: 'Are we pro-green, No Housing?'
Panic: 'Are we protecting WW11 heritage?'

Think Munsch's 'Scream'

You've been reading BlueSkyThinking. I'm back and I'm happy with what I've found X

Anonymous said...

9.58am, the difference is manston will have its own railway station so more attractive than china gate discovery etc. do keep up.

Anonymous said...


So now it's all 'No to Houses' petition action over on the anti-progress side. Is this what they were always all about?

The idea of jobs from the new owners doesn't seem to have sparked their shared synapse into anything resembling a coherent response. Hilarious how their real xenophobia and economic illiteracy has finally come to the fore.

BlueSkyThinking and loving it!

Anonymous said...

9:06 so a Park way station when built being a minute away rather than 6 minutes away like all the other rail stations will make a massive difference somehow you think?

Tell us why you think that given these are merely vague KCc statements.

And wasn't the Parkway for cargo?

This is just building splodge looking for reasons.

Manston airport after all for a generation now was supposed to be the only regeneration tool for Thanet. Now that's failed our politicians znd civil servants are scrabbling around for other glory projects.

Nothing has been done. Resignations are needed.

Anonymous said...

9.04am

I love that phrase 'Building Splodge'. I must find a way to start working that into more conversations.

Anonymous said...

Look at the mess the councils and property developers made of Westwood Cross. They're simply incompetents with too much of our tax to waste.

What were the EKO costs?

Anonymous said...

Why is Ramsgate Port opened for live animal exports.

If these were announced a week in advance the road could be blocked by hundreds of cars.

Anonymous said...

The port is open anon @ 4:10 pm because whatever your thoughts on the export of live animals it is currently a legal activity. Blocking the roads with hundreds of cars is not. Perversely, if the trade were allowed to go ahead without all the noisy protests the animals might have a better chance of a peaceful journey.

Unknown said...

3;58
Why O why do people say things like look at the mess that TDC have made with WWX when it has to be one of, if not the most successful shopping centre's there is. It has the most money to the retailers per person. Company's are dying to get in there and the ones that are there are dying to expand. What gets me is the anti-business stance of some people. Why not encourage them I would much rather live in a town that people wanted to come to and live in rather than leave. Soon we will have all the benefits of wealthy people living here with their expensive tastes and businesses catering for them, so the knock on effect will filter down to us not so rich.

Anonymous said...

20 million spend, how much will an airport regeneration cost. Maybe houses and businesses are smoke and mirrors

Anonymous said...

Nonsense 8:51 it is a disgusting trade. Even tdc oppose it. The port does not need opening for it which is legal. As is a peaceful blockade of the road. If animals suffer then the Rspca will ban the lorries.

Anonymous said...

You are joking Purple Om WC is a planning mess destroying the town centres and empty shops. It should pay higher tax to restrict sprawl.

Anonymous said...

Anon @ 11:34 pm. I never said it was a good trade, only that what is happening is legal. I believe TDC went to court over the issue and lost. Facts are facts even if you don't like them.

Anonymous said...

A hasty pleasurama deal with cardy rejected on Driver's blog. What are Everitt and co playing at?

The site should have been taken back in Februaryanand cleared. Another Summer wasted by The Duffers.

Anonymous said...

Good to see Belgium ferry campaigners coming to Ramsgate for a new foot passenger ferry. What have the Port management been doing for over a year? We are funding them to do nothing. ..

Anonymous said...

8:51 lorries blocking calais port over immigrants why not for cruel animal exports? Tdc seem to be saying one thing but doing another.

How do the police and port know lorries are arriving but not the public?

Anonymous said...

Iris has messed up pleasurama too same as Clive before her. Same old faces swapping job titles and doing nothing

Tony Flaig said...

8:22 am In answer to your comment, er no. But thanks anyway for your kind words.

Tony Flaig said...

8:22 am In answer to your comment, er no. But thanks anyway for your kind words.

Anonymous said...

3:58 so we're agreed its a disgusting trade.

And legal just as say slavery was before being made illegal?

And its legal to refuse the port access and prevent animal cruelty.

The port repeatedly closed would soon see the end of the d exports. A trade that wastes police time and damages Ramsgate

Marksman said...

Glad to see ECR back online. No doubt the SUPPORTERSFORWHYNOTSAVEMANSTONWORKS will attempt to howl down any logical postings and make personal attacks. So good to see the Howlers hav'nt put you off.

Marksman

Anonymous said...


Tony flaig

Not meant as 'kind' words.

Take them as they were meant.

Anonymous said...

Reckless defects to Ukip decrying party mps not local constituents. ...like ermmm...Farage in Thanet! Or Mackinlay or Wauchope...

Anonymous said...

No passanger flights, no more than 200 hundred jobs, no profit SAY NO TO CPO.
The new owners of the brownfield delvelopment site at Manston have a plan, have a proven track record, have Billions of equaty atvthere disposal, will create a development with instant skilled jobs and apprentaships in development, create Schools, Medical Pracrices, Elderly day car for South Thanet, Buseness premises, Manufacturing premises, and various types of homes.
No pollution no environmental and no health impact to Ramsgate and villages residents.
Money for TDC economic benefits and farvgreater number of jobs than the closed airfield.
If the poloticians are trying to do the right thing for now and the future and they are not just flogging a dead horse and sucking up to the threatening SMA, for alledged votes only, then the onlyvreal sollytion for jobs, prosperity a new future for Thanet now and for the next half century, if its really about jobs, SAY NOT TO CPO, as the prposal from discovery park will be yet another opportunity missed if Iris and her cabinet gooks not to mention the Tories have there way. Theres no impirtance to that land as an airfield locally or nationally, even govetnment dont want it, now former protesters for opening an airfield are pro new multi use site, tides turning.

Anonymous said...

Manston airport is a dead duck but we need explanations from those accountable on the pollution and missing jobs and wasted tax. Wasn't Manston due 5000 jobs by now? Where are the missing fines? How much has been spent on Eko and Parkways etc.

Anonymous said...

Interesting discussion on Thor contamination on Michaels pensioners blog.

Why have TDC not raised this in council. Who is the councillor for the area

Anonymous said...

Seaside-resort airport to close its doors after unsustainable losses.

Not Manston, but Blackpool. They had over 200,000 passengers a year and still list money.

Up and down the country, bigger airports are squeezing out the tiddlers.

Roger Gale, successive Tdc leaders for decades have not seen this obvious next step charging over the hill, and the mugs who beloved them should rightly feel aggrieved to be led up the garden path.


Anonymous said...

What's happening with the Parkway and dumped jets?

Between the corrupt councillors and sheep-councillors we seem to be wasting tax while being contaminated?